


Emapthy

by KiannaLeigh



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Play, Community: smut_fest, M/M, Mind Control, Smut, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 01:50:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1064278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiannaLeigh/pseuds/KiannaLeigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People are getting robbed, bilked out of thousands of dollars at a time. Daniel Holmes and Martin Jenkins, dedicated detectives of the VCU are on the case. But the criminal may be more cunning and closer to them than they can imagine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emapthy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ingenius_inc](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=ingenius_inc).



"We've got a new case."

The file hit the desk and made an audible thump. The blonde looked up from his report and stared at the thing before looking to his partner. "What the hell is that, Dan?"

Daniel dropped into this chair and and sighed. He was blacked haired and green eyed. His long locks fell in waves over his shoulders before gathering inside a green hair tie. He licked his canines absently before speaking.

"Six cases of different people with nothing in common but being humans and being rich as hell."

The blonde ran a hand through his short hair and groaned. "And since when are rich human whiners our business? They have the human police for issues concerning them. That doesn't sound like a VCU issue."

"Keep listening, Martin." Daniel said with a frown. "It'll get there." He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples as he went over the facts. "So we've got six humans, that don't know one another and are super rich. And each one has reported being robbed. But not by the conventional means. Each victim suddenly got the urge to take out a large sum of money in cash from one of their accounts. After withdrawing the money, each walked a short distance to a alley or other secluded public place and just dropped the money on the ground then walked away. None of victims thought that this was odd until about an hour later but the time they snapped out of it, the money - naturally - was gone."

"I see," Martin said slowly. He leaned forward and picked up the file. "So vampiric mind control? Pretty open and shut. Even when you order a human to forget the command, they remember the approach."

"But none of these human forgot the command," Daniel pointed out. "Plus, they would remember the approach. It not easy to forget a vampire walking up to you making eye contact for sixty seconds."

"Even the old ones need thirty seconds of contact," Martin added. "How is this one making his victims forget that?"

"That's the question. None of the victims even move in vampiric circles. All of them have strictly human friends. Three of the six, weren't even in the same room with a vampire in the hours before the incident. Plus no human is stupid enough to look into a vampire's eyes for more than second or two, unless it's a lover."

"So what are we dealing with? A new mutation in the mind control? Something more powerful than we're used to seeing?"

"We don't know." Daniel leaned forward and looked at the file. "That's why this is a Vampire Control Unit case."

Martin glanced up for a moment. His blue eyes met Daniel's green and for a moment they simply existed together before Martin broke their connection by looking away.

"So have we got any leads?" he asked as he pushed his chair back and glanced around.

"One," Daniel admitted as he too moved back. "What would have been victim number seven got lucky. One Ms. Morgan Davenport." Reaching across the space between them the raven haired man took the file and turned it around so he could read it. "On the twenty-fifth of November she attended a party at the house of her brother, Maxwell Davenport. During the festivities, around four-thirty pm, she suddenly put down her glass of sparkling water, ignored the other guests and walked out into the snow. According to eyewitness accounts, she didn't even stop to put a coat on."

"No coat?" Martin muttered. "Definitely mind control. Nobody in control of themselves would have walked out that weekend without a coat on. It was freezing."

"Yea. I spent two hours shoving that crap ton of snow out of my driveway and off my sidewalks."

"Two hours?"

"It snowed while I was shoveling," Daniel said flatly. "Anyway. Back to Ms. Davenport. So she walked out of party with nothing on her but her little clutch purse. She walked, not drove, walked in the falling snow with no coat on to the nearest bank, walked in and withdrew ten thousand dollars from a high yield savings account."

Martin whistled. "That's a lot of dough," he muttered.

"No kidding. Naturally she would have been upset over losing it. But lucky for her, her brother Maxwell saw her leave. He asked around the party for a while, apparently trying to figure out where she was going. The party was an unveiling of a portrait of him so she had no reason to leave. When he figure out she'd suddenly gotten up and left, he went after her. According to him he found her walking out of an alley near the party. She openly told him what she had done, withdrawn the money and left it and he went to get it back. When he did, he found some guy, picking up the money."

"Not the vampire I suppose."

Daniel shook his head. "No. Some human. According to Maxwell Davenport, at first he thought it was just a kid he looked so young. The guy looked dazed and confused, like he didn't know what he was doing. Mr. Davenport insisted on taking him along with his sister to the hospital to be treated for symptoms of VMC but the doctor there didn't find a trace of it in either of them."

"So we've got two victims, both under vampire mind control, but neither with an memories of said controller and no memories of their sixty second hypnosis."

"Basically."

"And what's the lead?"

Daniel closed the file and stood up. "The man who picked up the money seems to be having memory issues. He's here and we're going to talk to him."

Martin sighed. "It's better than nothing," he muttered and stood up.

The interview room was a small square space with one door and a window with two way glass. Inside the room the man sat hunched over the table with the hood of his hoodie pulled over his head. Daniel and Martin walked in together and the man looked up as they entered. Mr. Davenport had been right. The man looked like a kid, twenty or so at best. He seemed to shrink into his hoodie upon seeing them. Martin frowned as he and his partner sat down at the table. It didn't seem fair to be putting this kid through all this.

"Nicolas Belarus. I'm Detective Holmes," Daniel said in a gentle voice. "This is my partner Dectective Jenkins."

The kid looked from one of them to the other before speaking. "Holmes, with a black pony tail and Jenkins with ice blue eyes."

The detectives looked at one another for a moment before the kid chuckled.

"I'm bad with faces. I have a lower than average capacity for remembering the human face so I pair people's names with something I will remember."

"I see," Daniel said slowly. "Okay. Well we're going to ask you a few questions about the other day. Nothing too stressful, just basic stuff." The kid looked down and Daniel felt instantly bad for him. "Poor kid," he thought. "He's scared shitless."

"Take us through that evening," Martin said slowly. "What did you do?"

"I left my lab around three," said the kid. "That's actually pretty unusual for me because normally I work until eight or nine at night on a slow day."

"Your lab?" Martin asked.

"I'm a researcher at Antony Jerkins Bio-psychic Research Laboratories," the kid muttered into the table.

Both detectives leaned back and raised their eyebrows.

"A researcher at Antony Jerkins?" Daniel muttered. "How old are you, twenty? Twenty-one?"

"So you're some kind of genius then?" Martin asked.

The kid chuckled and glanced at for a brief moment. "I have an IQ of 162," he said. For a moment he paused and when neither detective said anything he added: "Einstein, the vampire who discovered the theory of relativity as well as cracking seven of the eight laws of vampiric higher brain functioning had an IQ of 160."

Martin whistled as Daniel shifted in his seat.

"I child genius then?" the raven haired man said.

"I was," said Nicolas. "But I'm thirty-seven now. Not a child by any human's standards."

"You're thirty-seven?" Martin muttered in disbelief as he looked over the man again. He looked young. He looked vulnerable. Martin shook his head.

"I am," Nicolas said. "And how old are you?"

"Thirty-five, Martin muttered.

"Thirty-eight," Daniel added.

"See?" Nicolas said as he quickly glanced up. "Neither of you look your age either." He smiled as he looked back at his hands on the table's surface.

"I don't think that's the same," Martin said.

"Anyway, Nicolas." Daniel opened the file in front of him and read a moment before speaking. "You said you left your lab around three and that that's odd for you."

"I normally stay much later."

"Even on a weekend?" Daniel asked.

"Especially on a weekend."

"Okay? So did you do anything else odd or unusual?"

"I drove to some random alleyway and parked my car."

"You parked in the alley?" Martin asked.

"Yea. I just sat in my car for a while. I had the car off and it got pretty cold in there."

"But you didn't turn the car back on?" Martin looked over the man again. With his IQ it would be hard for a vampire to overpower his mind but that seemed to be just what happened.

"No," Nicolas said. "I just sat there for about an hour. Then I got out of the car and walked down the alley a ways until a found a bag on the ground. I picked it up. I was going to turned around and go back to my car when Maxwell found me."

"Maxwell?" Daniel said. "Mr. Davenport?"

"Yea," Nicolas said with a smile. "He was so nice to me. He took me to the hospital and got me checked out. He told me he was worried about me."

"Nice guy," Martin commented.

"And you're sure you don't remember anything other than what you're told us," Daniel asked. "Nothing?"

"I've been over this story three times now. I don't remember anything else."

Both detectives were quiet for a moment. Silence reigned in the interview room for a few seconds until Martin spoke.

"I want us to try something," he said. "It may help you remember something."

The man glanced up from the table for a moment but quickly lowered his eyes. "What?"

"I'm going to hypnotise you," Martin said. "Then I'm going to ask you to repeat your story. The hypnosis might help up uncover something."

"So my mind was probably violated by some vampire and you want to violate me again to figure it out?"

Instantly Martin felt bad for bringing up the idea. He almost took it back but managed to push himself to nod "I know how this feels-"

"No you don't," Nicolas muttered. Silence slammed down onto the room for a moment before the human spoke again. "Will it hurt?"

"No," Martin assured the man. "I promise."

Slowly the man looked up and looked the vampire in the eyes. "Okay," he said. "Do it."

Martin nodded without breaking eye contact and began to count. "60, 59, 58, 57, 56 ..."

Daniel watched the two intently. He wondered if this was strictly called for. The man was probably traumatized enough. But on the other hand, what choice did they have? In the time in which Martin counted, Daniel got a good look at Nicolas. He looked young. There was something about him that made Daniel want to protect him. He had red hair that fell around his face in shaggy waves. His eyes were gray-blue and huge. Daniel could feel himself falling into those eyes. They were beautiful. The man was beautiful. The raven haired man found he was glad that he was older. It made his lust for him seem a little less inappropriate.

"... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Martin stopped counting but didn't break eye contact with the human. "Now. Nicolas. I want you to answer all my questions honestly. Do you understand?"

"I understand," the human said slowly.

"Now. I'm going to ask you a few questions. What's your name?"

"Nicolas Draco Belarus."

"Okay? What's your job?"

"I'm a researcher at Antony Jerkins Bio-psychic Laboratories."

"Alright. Are you single?"

Daniel looked at his partner suddenly. "What?" he hissed.

"Yes," Nicolas answered. "I'm single right now."

"Fine," Martin answered. "When did you leave work Friday the twenty-fifth?"

"Around three. I remember checking my email on my phone at three ten. Then wrote in my log book and left."

"Do you remember what you wrote?"

"It was about my latest research on the higher brain functions of vampires and the possible applications for human development especially considering -"

"Okay, okay," Martin said with a sigh. "Enough. When you left work. Where did you go?"

"I when to the parking garage and got in my car. I started to drive."

"Where did you go."

"An alley."

"Any signs around?"

"The last street sign said it was Morgan Street."

"And how did you know where to stop."

"There was a bakery on one side of the alley. I made the turn right after the bakery."

"Do you shop at the bakery?" Martin leaned forward. He couldn't see it but he heard Daniel open his notebook and click open his pen.

"No," Nicolas muttered. I just saw the sign with the picture of the baker on it and turned.

Both vampires sat back and tried to hold back sighs. Martin rolled his shoulders. "When you got into the alley, was there anyone around?"

"No."

"What did you do?"

"I shut of my car and waited. I waited for long time. I got cold."

"But you eventually left your car. Why?"

"I don't know."

Martin sighed this time. He couldn't help it. "After you got out of your car, what did you do?"

"I walked into the alley and picked up a paper bag off the ground."

"And then?"

"Then Maxwell grabbed my shoulder. He shouted at me."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I didn't do anything."

The two vampires looked at one another. Martin raised his eyebrows and leaned towards his partner. Daniel shook his head. The blonde closed his eyes for a second and huffed before looking back at the human.

"Okay. When I snap my fingers, you'll be released." He raised his right hand, put his middle finger and thumb together and snapped.

Nicolas jumped a little in his seat and looked around before settling down and looking down back at his hands. "It didn't work," he muttered.

"No," Daniel muttered. "It didn't."

Nicolas collected his things. Daniel and Martin saw him out of the interview room but then let him walk out on his own. They returned to their desks and sat down heavily in their chairs.

"Well that was a bust," Martin huffed as he leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.

"You don't have to say it," his partner muttered as he set his notebook aside. "Who ever is behind this, he's good."

"Very good," Martin agreed.

For a moment there was a pocket of silence surrounding the two desks. Both men were lost in their own thoughts. But then, slowly, Daniel leaned forward.

"Why did you ask him if he was single?" the raven haired man asked.

The blonde looked down from the ceiling and shrugged. "I just had the urge," he answered. "I was just seeing how he'd answer."

"Should I remind you that you are not single?" Daniel asked darkly.

Unfazed, Martin smiled. "If it involves what I think it does I sure as hell hope you will." He chuckled and sat up fully. "But not now. We have a case to solve."

With s sigh, the raven haired man sat back and shrugged. "I'll get you," he muttered softly but other than that, returned to his work.

The two men worked. They interviewed the other victims who had come forward. They tracked what leads there were to follow. In the end, they came up with nothing. At quarter to ten that night, they decided to head home.

"Your place or mine," Daniel asked as they walked out of the building. They were both dressed against the cold with matching coats over their VCU issued gray, white and blue uniforms.

"Mine," Martin responded. "I need to feed Henry."

The two vampires trudged through the slush towards the parking lot where their warm, dry cars awaited but were stopped before they reached them.

"Detective Holmes! Detective Jenkins!"

The vampires stopped and turned. Walking fast through the streetlamp-lit slush was Nicolas. He flashed a grin as he glanced up into the vampires' eyes for a moment.

"Mr. Belarus," Daniel said with a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to catch you," the human said. "I uhh ... don't normally do this ..."

"Do what?" Martin asked.

"Well ..." the human flushed. The sudden rush of hot blood to his face gave him a glow that the vampires couldn't ignore.

"We're going to feed my dog," Martin offered. "Why don't you come with us."

"Okay," Nicolas said softly.

Inside the vampire's apartment in was chilly since no one had been home in a few hours but it was quickly warming up. Nicolas sat on the floor with a big Great Dane while Martin and Daniel stripped off their uniforms in the living room.

"How do you know which uniform belongs to each of you if you get undressed together?" Nicolas asked as he pet the large animal.

"We don't," Martin said as he unbuttoned his pants. "We just put on whatever when we get dressed."

"I guess a couple wouldn't care very much," Nicolas muttered as he gazed at he dog. "How long have you been together?"

"Two years," Daniel answered. "We hooked up during a Christmas party and just sort of stuck together."

"That's nice," Nicolas muttered. The dog looked at him for a moment before get up and walking away. He watched the animal go before noticing that the vampires were standing over him. They were both naked but seemed at ease with it. Nicoals glanced up at their smiling faces for only a second before choosing to rake his eyes down their muscled bodies instead. Each vampire was chiseled out of marble, their white, smooth skin wrapped tautly over their hardened muscles. Nicolas smiled a little as he stood. "You're both really beautiful," he muttered as he unzipped his hoodie. "But vampire's tend to be. There's something unearthly about them that captures attention."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Martin said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Because it didn't sound like one."

"Be nice, Martin," Daniel warned but it lacked any heat. He was busy watching Nicolas shed his clothing, creating a pile on the floor by his feet.

Nicolas was softer than either of the vampires. He was in shape but he lacked the hard edges of the VCU detectives. He was as comfortable in his nakedness as Daniel and Martin though and stood with calm confidence, looking at the vampires' bodies.

For a moment none of the men spoke or moved. There was a balance holding them in place, simply looking at one another. Then Nicolas shifted and Martin stepped forward and hooked his hand under the human's chin. Nicolas closed his eyes but Martin didn't bother with looking at him. The vampire kissed the human, opening his mouth with his tongue and pulling him up against his body with his free hand. There was no battle for dominance. Nicolas yielded at once to the stronger man and melted against him. When Martin pulled away, he held onto Nicolas as if he would fall.

"Be good," he muttered. "I'll be back."

The blonde pushed Nicolas to side with enough force to throw him to the ground, but Daniel stepped in with enough time to catch the human. Without word, Martin strode away through the apartment, leaving Daniel and Nicolas alone.

Daniel held the human, sliding the palms of his hand over the flat expanse of his stomach. "Did he hurt you?" he asked in a low voice as he brought his fanged mouth down along the curve of Nicolas' neck.

"No," the human responded softly. He shuddered as he felt the vampire's fangs scrap against the skin of his shoulder but made no move to pull away.

"Good," Daniel purred and tugged the human towards the sofa.

They sat down on the piece of old furniture together, Daniel behind Nicolas. The vampire kissed the human's neck, sucking and biting very gently on the supple flesh while he reached around to fondle the Nicolas' manhood. The human groaned and melted into the treatment, placing his hand lightly on top of the vampire's, guiding him. He let out a small moan as Daniel squeezed the head of his cock and milked a drop of precum out of it.

"So sensitive," Daniel muttered as he began to stroke the organ with increasing force. He twisted his hand around Nicolas' cock and smiled when the human moaned arched into his hand. Nicoals leaned against him, him chest heaving as his breaths became gasping pants. Daniel took his mouth off the man's neck to looked down at his organ. Niclas's cock was stout when hard, mid-sized and very thick. Daniel licked his lips at the sight of the appendage gleaming wet with precum. He could practically taste the salty liquid as he jerked on the organ with increasing speed. Nicolas became incoherent, muttering softly and cursing under his breath and he bucked his hips in an attempt to increase the much needed friction. But as he came close to his finish, Daniel let him go and silenced any complains with a firm bite to his shoulder. It wasn't enough to draw blood, but it stilled the human.

"Danny."

Martin had come back into the room and smiled at the sight of Nicolas who was hard and quivering on the sofa.

"Look what you've done," the blonde said playfully.

The raven haired man opened his mouth, released the human's shoulder and snarled. "Shut up," he commanded but slid back on the sofa, pulling Nicolas with him and making room for Martin.

The blonde smiled and strode over. He sat down and immediate took Nicolas' face in his hands. Without a word he kissed him again, dominating the human, pushing him back into Daniel's body. Daniel pushed on the human as well, peppering his shoulder with bites and kisses and stroking his cock. Nicolas groaned as much as he was able and rocked his hips in time with the raven haired vampire's strokes. Groping blindly he reached forward until the tips of his fingers came in contact with the blonde's cock. He felt the vampire take him by the wrist and guide his hand until he was palming the organ. The human let out another groan as the vampires pressed him from either side.

Suddenly Daniel let go of Nicoals' shoulder and slithered out from behind him. The vampire dropped to the floor and forcibly pulled the human so that he was facing him. With a smile he licked the inside of Nicolas' thigh before leaned in and lapping at the human's cock. Nicolas moaned softly and tangled a hand in the vampire's raven locks. Martin watched with interest for a moment before grabbed the bottle he had gone to get and getting up. He sat on the floor behind Daniel and leaned forward to whisper in the man's ear.

"You're always so eager to taste a nice cock," he muttered as he popped open the top of the bottle.

Daniel didn't respond. He fully wrapped his mouth around Nicolas' cock, humming as he did so. With short movements slid his mouth up and down the length of the organ, using his tongue to play with the head when he could. The human grunted and slid forward, spreading his legs to give the vampire between them more room to move.

Behind Daniel, Martin coated his fingers in lube. He leaned forward and carefully pushed Daniel's buttocks cheeks apart, revealing his puckered entrance. The blonde pushed two fingers past the protective ring of muscle and twisted his hand. Daniel moaned around the cock in his mouth. It caused Nicolas to hiss as he was taken deeper into the vampire's mouth. As he opened Daniel's body, Martin used his free hand to stroke himself. Once he could spread his fingers apart inside the raven haired man's entrance he pulled his fingers out and got up on his knees.

In one firm push, Martin entered Daniel who released Nicolas' cock and hissed. "God!" he groaned and let his head fall between Nicolas' legs. The raven haired man took a few ragged breaths before shifting to put his mouth up against the inside of the human's thigh. As Martin began to move, Daniel bit down on Nicolas' thigh his sharp fangs piercing the skin easily releasing a steady stream of blood. Nicolas gasped then groaned as he felt the vampire suck at his flesh.

Martin snapped his hips, driving himself into Daniel. The feel of his lover's body tightening and shifting around him made him tilt his head back and growl. Daniel responded by hissing into Nicolas' flesh. Nicolas shuddered and tugged on Daniel's hair, forcing his head up and mouth over his cock. Seeing the weeping organ Daniel growled again and dropped his mouth back onto it. Pushed forward by Martin's thrusts, Daniel took Nicolas fully into his mouth. The human moaned and lifted his hips off the sofa, overcome with feeling, and shot his seed into he vampire's open mouth. Daniel drank greedily, sucking the organ until it was spent then returned his mouth to the bleeding bite mark on Nicolas' thigh. He bit down again, starting a fresh stream of blood and lapped furiously as Martin sped up his thrusts. Daniel fed until he felt himself close to coming then pressed his forehead to Nicolas' thigh and hissed through his orgasm. Martin felt Daniel shudder as he came. The action made the raven haired man tighten around the blond who tilted his head back and growled. He could barely breath past his arousal. He was so close. With a final torrent of thrusts Martin came, groaning as he did so.

Nicolas looked down at the two vampires from his place on the sofa. They were both on the floor, Daniel with his head on Nicolas' lap and Martin with his head on Daniel's shoulder. From his vantage point the vampires looked like two beautiful, exotic animals, their white skin gleaming in the light. Nicolas stroked Daniel's hair absently as he watched the two.

"Daniel. Martin."

The officers looked up at him. Their eyes were soft and full and adoration. It was just as Nicolas wanted it. The human smiled.

"I have something to tell you," Nicolas said as he shifted and sat up straighter. "Something that I did say during the interview. I know who the thief is."

"You do?" Martin muttered.

"Why didn't you say something?" Daniel asked. "Why didn't you tell us when you were hypnotized?"

Nicolas smiled. "Because I'm immune to vampiric hypnosis."

"Immune?" Daniel sat up a little but didn't stop Nicolas from running his fingers through his black locks. "But you avoid eye contact with vampires."

"Just because that's what vampires expect. I don't want to draw attention to myself. That's why I never let my victims see me."

"Victims?" Martin asked as he looked at the human.

Nicolas looked down at him, focused on him, concentrated. "The people I rob. I did it. I'm the thief you're looking for."

For a moment neither vampire spoke and silence settled over the room. Nicolas continued to stroke Daniel's hair as he waited for the two men on the floor to get over their shock. He could tell when they did so. There was a shift he could feel.

"How?" Martin asked simply.

"I'll explain," Nicolas said. "It started two years ago. I was researching Vampiric Higher-level Brain Functions. You know psychic powers, mind control, all those things vampires can do that human's can't. I hit a break-through in my research. a way to bottle vampire's abilities so to speak. The practically value in my work would be in giving humans the vampires' psychic abilities. I was just about to start the trial period of my research when my funding got cut off. They didn't tell me why. They wouldn't tell me. They just stopped the money and told me to stop my research."

"So you're stealing to fund your research?" Daniel concluded.

"But that doesn't explain how you're doing it," Martin added.

"Easy," Nicolas answered. "When they cut my funding, I did the first rounds of trials on myself. I won't bore you with the methods; I'll just skip to the results. I turned myself into an empath. I can sense people's emotions from a distance of 25 meters and can zero in on single person in a crowd of one hundred."

"Empathy isn't mind control," Martin snapped as he sat up fully. "You can know what people feel but you can't control them."

"I can," Nicolas said with a smile. "Once I get someone's emotions in my head, I can replace them with the ones I want them to have. For example, when first saw me, you felt bad for me. You felt pity. You wanted to protect me. Why do you think that is?"

"You planted those emotions." Daniel glared and climbed to his feet. "You planted the want to withdraw money in your victims."

"Precisely. That's why Mr. Davenport felt so worried for me. That's why you invited me, a total stranger, into your home, why you even asked me if I was single in the first place. I can tell you what to feel as easily as you can feel it. But my false emotions only have about an hour of effect once I get out of range."

"That's why your victims would snap out of it and panic," Martin guessed as he followed Daniel's example and stood up. "Your control wears off and they realize what they've done."

"Yes," Nicolas said.

"But why tell us?" Daniel asked. "We could arrest you."

"You have no evidence," Nicolas answered. "You'll never be able to prove any of this."

"We could use your confession to get a warrant on your lab," Martin pointed out.

Nicolas shrugged. "A calculated risk I was willing to take."

"But why?" Daniel asked. "Why take the risk? What do you get out of this? You're successfully stealing to find your research so why jeopardize it by confessing to us."

"Because it's not about my research," Nicolas said. "It's about justice. When I became an empath I gained the power to find out why my funding got blocked. People are so loose with what they feel. For example, many vampires resent me and get spikes of anger when my research is brought up. Some vampires feel this happy glow when advantages that vampires have over humans are brought up. And the vampiric director of the Antony Jerkins, feels outright hatred for me which only spikes when I bring up how my research will forever change the relationship between humans and vampires. It's not hard to know what a person thinks once you know how they feel."

"So why rob humans if you have an issue with vampires?" Martin asked.

Nicolas chuckled. "Do you two want to sit down if you're going to interrogate me? Or at least put on some boxers. It's hard to take you seriously when your standing there naked."

Martin and Daniel glance at each other before turning and picking up their previously discarded uniforms and putting them back on. Nicolas watched them dress for a moment before slipping off the couch and putting on his boxers and jeans. With them on, he returned to the sofa in time to see the vampires face him again.

"So now," Martin growled. "Answer the question. Why rob humans over a fight with vampires?"

"Because the humans I targeted were sheep. They knew vampires were looking to control everything and let them for money, for power, for good wine and a pat on the head. They deserved it. They'll be the first to fall when the war starts."

"War?" Martin muttered tensely. "What war?"

"Human and vampires will be equal one day," Nicolas answered. "Humans and their vampire allies will throw off the bonds of slavery that some of vampire kind would like to place around the neck of humanity. And when that happens, the humans who are willing to bow down to vampire control will be the first suffer. Humanity won't help them and neither will the selfish vampires they offer themselves to. The vampires in control now won't step down without a fight and weak humans who serve them will be the first to be sacrificed."

"That's all fine," Daniel said in a low voice. "But why tell us? You never answered. Why go through all the trouble of explaining this to us?"

Nicolas shifted and looked at the vampire for a moment before answering. When he did, it was with careful words. "Right now, I'm controlling your emotions. You feel pity. You feel understanding and compassion. You won't do anything to me. But after I leave, it'll only take about an hour for my influence to wear off. You'll be free to come to your own conclusions then. But I'm telling you this, because I've been following you. I've been inside your heads for weeks now. And I think in the end you're good people. I think you'll be on the side of equality when the time comes. I'm making an army. Recruiting those I think will be willing to fight. You're on my list."

"Do you sleep with everyone on your list?" Martin grumbled.

Nicolas paused for a moment. He seemed to be considering his answer. "That was ... personal. I sowed you will lust to make you easier to manipulate but I went through with it because ... well this waging a war business can get fairly lonely. I thought you'd overlook my momentary lapse in professionalism."

"And if we don't want to?" Daniel asked.

"Then I hope I'll want to continue this affair instead of resenting me for it."

The two vampire looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Nicolas. The human smiled before standing up. "Well. I should be going. I have work to do. And the faster I leave you, the faster my influence will wear off and you can make your decision."

"How do we know you're telling us the truth about this war of yours?" Martin asked as he approached the human. But as he stepped towards him he felt a sense of pity and stopped.

"I've had some evidence left at your desks at work by someone already loyal to my cause. You can review it at your leisure." The human slipped into his shirt and picked up his hoodie. "I'll expect an answer within a week. Next Friday seems like a good time. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll assume you're my enemies." He smiled at both vampires as he moved past them. "I'll see myself out."

Nicolas' lab at Antony Jerkins Bio-psychic Laboratories was a small cluttered room littered with machines and biological samples. He used to have a bigger space that belonged to him, but since his funding got slashed he had to move to a smaller room. It didn't bother him. It was just him and his one assistant so they didn't need much in the way of elbow room.

The man looked up from his work at the microscope, stared at a spot on the wall a few feet away and blinked a couple of times. Staring through a microscope lens all day was killing his vision. At the moment he was working on his own blood sample. So far he able to gain empathy and take it to a level unheard of before now without needing to consume blood. In fact because of his careful trails he'd avoided almost all side-effects.

"So far, so good," he muttered to the empty room then paused. Nicolas stared ahead of him and listened until he heard a soft click. "Good afternoon detectives," he called.

There was a pause at the door before it swung open and revealed Martin and Daniel. They stepped through the door and shut it behind them.

"I guess you could sense us coming," Martin muttered as he quickly scanned the room.

"I could," Nicolas said as he stretched in his chair. "Just as I can sense why you're here. It's good to know that you're on my side."

"So you can sense anything you want without trying, then?" Daniel asked.

"Pretty much. Think of it like being a crowded room with everyone announcing their emotions and inner feelings. I always hear it all the time. I can't hit mute."

"So," Martin asked. "Does it overwhelm you?"

"It used to. I got used to it. I can tune it out. I hear it but I'm not always paying attention." Nicolas looked over at the detectives and smiled. "Sorry to tell you that," he said.

"Excuse me?" Martin answered.

"I can almost taste your disappointment. You were hoping there was a way to block me or some weakness in me you could possibly exploit if you needed to. Sorry to tell you that's not the case."

"Could you not do that?" the blonde muttered.

Nicolas laughed. "Sure. People tend to hate it. And anyway, you haven't just come to join my cause, have you?"

"You said you wouldn't do that," Daniel said in mock scolding.

"I did," Nicolas agreed. "Sorry."

"It's fine," the raven haired vampire assured him.

"So will you come with us to dinner?" Martin said quickly.

"Just to tell you, say something faster won't surprise me. I know what you feel before you do at times. But yes. I'd love to go to dinner with the two of you. I'll text my number to your private phones."

Both the vampires paused and looked at one another.

"How do you have our private numbers," Daniel asked.

Nicolas laughed again as he pulled out his cell phone. "I'm about to start a civil war that will engulf all of the world. If I couldn't find two little cell numbers I'd be in over my head."

"Try not to do that either," Martin muttered.

"Comes with the job," Nicolas said and tapped a key. "There. It's done. Feel free to text me anytime you want."

"We'll do that," Daniel said. "We should get going."

"I have work too," Nicolas agreed. "Good bye, detectives."

"See you, Nicolas," Martin said. Daniel just nodded and the two vampires took their leave.


End file.
